LONG OVERDUE AGILITY UPDATE

Even though I was going through an agility burnout, I entered KK in 2 back to back USDAA agility trials. We went to Paw Prints in Shreveport mid April. It's a nice venue with great club members. The trial is always run so well that it makes for a nice weekend. KK had an amazing weekend! After her first run, Master Jumpers, she was unstoppable. Her Master Jumpers run on Saturday demonstrated that my head just wasn't in the game. After some encouragement, I changed my attitude and the weekend was unbelievable. KK ended up Q'ing 7/8 runs . She won C22 Steeplechase finals and was the only dog to complete Grand Prix successfully, which gave her an automatic bye into Regionals. She was a totally different dog that weekend. The judge was fabulous and even commented on how much he liked my 'little dog'. He inquired about her age saying he 'thought she was pretty young'. Just a simple compliment from a judge or fellow competitor can do a lot for my mind frame. :)

The next weekend we went to Garland, TX to the Center for Canine Sports. It was an outdoor trial, something we haven't done before and probably won't do again. The outside elements can be tricky. It had rained for days before so the grass was muddy and slippery. But those conditions didn't affect KK one bit. She went 6/9 Q's . She earned 4 titles that weekend. Advanced Snooker, which is MY nemesis, Advanced Standard, KK's nemesis, Advanced Agility Dog and Master Jumper Titles.

We did the Blue Ribbon K-9 Agility trial in Monroe in early May. I was experiencing some health issues and KK tweaked her back a little but she did manage to earn Q's in Master Gamblers and Master Relay.

I have always wanted to compete at Purina Farms and we got the opportunity in July. I was still not myself and KK fed off it. She did Q in Master Snooker which is a HUGE deal for us. We also managed to lock ourselves out of our new RV on Saturday night and it took the tow guy 1 1/2 hours to get us back in. Needless to say, we were pretty tired the next day. But it was a great experience and I can't wait to go back to Purina Farms.

We also did an AKC trial in Memphis in April but AKC isn't my venue of choice and I don't enjoy myself and I typically don't try hard. I mean I would like to MACH KK but, the environment makes it difficult for me to get excited about AKC. None the less, KK posted some smoking times and finished her Master Jumpers Title.

We also ventured back to NADAC in June. Kate had a phenomenal weekend, going 11/12 Q's, all 1st places and earning 3 Titles. We went back in July and Kate went 6/9 and earned 2 more Titles. We enjoyed the laidback venue and will definitely do more NADAC in the future.

We are now on a month break from agility and will trial again towards the end of August. I have thought a lot about where to compete KK and the best venues for me and my mindset. I have decided we will only do one more AKC trial and then focus on USDAA and maybe a NADAC trial if I can find one nearby. Miss Kalea-Kate is a fantastic little agility dog and I can't wait to see where our journey leads us. :) Check out Kalea-Kate's Agility Goals and see how far she's come this year!!